


every stoplight and stopsign in this town

by troubledsouls



Series: pretty words in pretty places [9]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Knifeplay, Non-sexual dom/sub, Safeword Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-08 10:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10384506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troubledsouls/pseuds/troubledsouls
Summary: He looks beautiful, especially with the thick cloth gag in his mouth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marsakat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsakat/gifts).



Josh watches as Jenna finishes the last few knots on Tyler. 

Tyler's arms are tied to a hook in the ceiling, body stretched upwards. Pretty, intricate bonds wind across his chest and down his torso. He looks beautiful, especially with the thick cloth gag in his mouth. 

Josh has his hands cuffed behind his back. He's on his knees, his bonds so much simpler than Tyler's, but he still feels the same amount of restraint just from Jenna telling him to stay still. 

Tyler's naked, and it makes Josh almost squirm in anxiety. Tyler and Jenna's relationship is sexual, and Josh being here almost feels like intruding. 

Jenna grips Josh's chin and makes him look up at her. “You doing okay?”

“Yes ma'am.” Josh lies, just a little. He wants to be good. 

Jenna ties a cloth blindfold over Josh's eyes. 

The gentle knife edge digging into the skin of his chest makes him squeak in surprise. Jenna shushes him, and Josh stays still as she drags the blade through his skin. 

Blood drips from the cut down the center of his chest. Josh shivers as he feels the streams, shakes as he feels Jenna move away from him. 

He hears her murmur something into Tyler's ear, but can't quite catch the words. His breathing is shaky. The cut feels deeper than what he likes, and it's bleeding and bleeding. 

Josh can hear gentle slick sounds, and it makes him whine loudly. 

Suddenly Jenna is there, grabbing his chin and yanking his head up from where it's dipped down to his chest. “I want you to be quiet.”

Josh feels a quick cut beside the first one, and he struggles to be quiet. The knife feels more like a punishment than something he wants. 

Another cut, and then Jenna releases him. 

Josh nearly falls over. His head is fuzzy, but he's struggling through. He doesn't want to ruin this for Tyler. Tyler's getting what he wants. Tyler's being good. Josh doesn't want to hurt him by making it all stop.

It's almost quiet except for the gentle sounds of Jenna and Tyler, sexual sounds that make Josh uncomfortable, and he doesn't know why he agreed to this because he's scared, he's scared. 

Josh is scared, but he has to be quiet. He has to be good. If he's good, maybe he won't be fuzzy. 

Josh can't help a gentle, distressed whine. 

Jenna's sudden hand grips his crotch, pressing her nails into him. “What are you, a fucking whore? I said stay quiet.”

Josh jerks away from her, shrieking loudly. His restraints and the blood are suddenly suffocating, and he tries to pull the handcuffs apart with his wrists, tries to get his hands in front of him so he can stop bleeding stop dying he needs it to stop stop stop

Jenna backhands him, and Josh screams his safeword as loud as he can. He feels awful, awful, he's ruining everything just like he always does, he's bad he's bad he's bad

Jenna unlocks one of his handcuffs and Josh yanks his hands around to the front, pressing his palms into the wounds and doubling over to be small as possible. Jenna touches him and he jerks away from her. 

_Fucking whore, fucking awful, just wants attention for himself, whore whore whore-_

Josh cries as his thoughts overwhelm him. 

His rules, his rules, simple simple rules, broken rules, broken broken broken-

He lashes out at Jenna as she slips a needle into his arm. He struggles as she holds him still, he's scared of what she's putting into him. 

Everything goes fuzzy, and then dark. 

Josh wakes up in his bed in his and Tyler's apartment. 

His wrists and chest hurt, and his head still feels fuzzy. He tries to sit up and then falls back down, wrists flaring in pain. 

“Josh, hey.” Tyler's there. He moves to touch Josh, and Josh flinches. 

“Okay.” Tyler folds his hands in his lap. 

There's bruises on Josh's wrists, bandages on his chest. 

“Jenna sedated you. I don't like that she did that.” Tyler says. “And she shouldn't have let herself get too deep in the scene with me that it transferred to you. I'm… I'm really sorry.”

Josh feels nonverbal, so he doesn't respond. Tyler seems to understand. 

“Do you want me to leave?” Tyler asks. 

Josh nods. 

Tyler gets up and slips out of the room. 

Josh gets to his feet and locks the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Tyler unlocks the door to Josh's room and gently pushes it open. 

Josh is at his desk, scrolling through twitter on his laptop. He doesn't look at Tyler. 

“Hi.” Tyler says quietly. 

Josh doesn't acknowledge him. 

“I haven't seen you for a few days.”

No response.

“Have you eaten?”

Josh slowly shakes his head. 

“Drunk water?” 

Josh shakes his head again. 

“Okay.” Tyler gently shuts the door, but leaves it unlocked. 

He comes back with a cup of apple juice, setting it down beside Josh. “Drink. Please.” 

Josh glances at the cup, then up at Tyler, then back at his computer screen. 

Tyler slips out of the room. 

He comes back a few minutes later to an empty cup, and Josh looking at him. 

“Come on. Lets go get you something to eat and drink.” Tyler says, reaching out to lay a hand on Josh's arm. Josh flinches away and Tyler takes a step back. “Shh, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you.”

“Didn't mean to mess up.” Josh's voice sounds scratchy and dry. “Was supposed to be good. Was bad. I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.” Tyler assures. “I'm gonna go get you some soup, okay?”

Josh nods, eyes sliding shut. 

Tyler comes back with soup and sets the bowl down beside Josh. “Do you want me to stay?”

Josh nods, so Tyler pulls up a chair and sits beside Josh. He plays a game on his phone while Josh eats, glancing up occasionally. He doesn't want to scare his best friend. 

Josh sets the bowl down.

Tyler glances up. “Hey.”

Josh's eyes flutter closed. “I…”

“Do you need?” Tyler asks gently. 

Josh nods. 

“Come on.” Tyler takes Josh's hand and leads him over to the bed. Josh kneels, and Tyler's legs bracket his head. 

Tyler takes Josh's chin in his hand and lifts his head so that they make eye contact. “Talk.”

“I was trying to be quiet, and good, because you were being good for Jenna and I didn't want to safeword but I was scared, scared, I just wanted her attention I-” Josh sucks in a shaky breath, tears streaming down his face as he lets words spill from trembling lips. “I just wanted to be good, and I wasn't good, she broke my rules because I wasn't good-”

Tyler cuts off Josh's air with choking hands, and Josh pulls at Tyler's wrists. Tyler lets him go. “What have I told you?”

“Always safeword when I need.” Josh mumbles. “One of your rules.”

“And you broke it, right?” Tyler says. “So you need to be punished.”

Josh nods, mind already slipping into subspace. “And Jenna broke my rules.”

“I'll punish her too, later. First you, because you're here.” Tyler strokes a hand through Josh's hair. 

“What's my punishment?” Josh asks quietly, looking up at Tyler with hazy eyes. 

“I'm going to choke you twenty times. Count how many seconds I hold, and tell me. If you tell me the wrong number, I'm going to add another time.”

Josh nods, swallowing gently as Tyler's hands settle around his throat. 

He squeezes, and then Josh's air is gone. 

Josh counts as best he can with his mind fading. Tyler releases, and Josh gasps out the number. “Eleven.”

“Good boy.” Tyler barely gives Josh time to catch his breath before he's choking him again. 

Josh gets the first eleven right, but on the twelfth he can't count right and he ends up saying eight instead of fourteen. 

“Wrong.” Tyler says, and the word sinks into Josh's soul. “Twenty one times now.”

Josh tries to focus for the next one, the next one, and he gets five right before he slips up again. He's in a haze, and he doesn't know how he's getting all the numbers right in the first place. 

“Twenty two.” Tyler says. 

Josh messes up the next three, and then Tyler's telling him twenty five. There's dark bruises on Josh's neck, and tears streaming down his red face. 

Tyler chokes him again, and all Josh can get out is incoherency. 

“Numbers, come on Josh.” Tyler coaxes, thumbs swiping away tears from Josh's cheeks. 

Josh can only gasp. 

“Twenty six.” Tyler says sweetly, and then Josh is choked again. 

Josh somehow manages to count out the next two, fingers white-knuckled and unmoving around Tyler's wrists. 

“Two more, come on, you can do it.” Tyler whispers, and Josh just sobs. “You don't have to count for these two, it's okay.”

Tyler chokes him, and Josh lets himself fall.

He doesn't know how long he drifts in subspace, just knows that he comes back to softness and Tyler's arms around him. 

Josh breathes, and then sleeps.


End file.
